Safety first
Anne ten Wolde, a biomedical technologist, was involved in the safety testing phase of the Infuuts prototype. She says, “It’s a super cool idea that children can move and play despite the infusion pole. But with sometimes as many as eight infusion pumps, that’s (design) technically challenging! The thing must not tip over or fall. From now on, the Infuuts come with important rules for safe use. These are on the back of the bicycle. For example, the Infuuts must always be used under adult supervision, ride on a flat floor inside, with IV pumps that do not have chemotherapy, immunotherapy or blood products attached. This allows a child to cycle around safely. Indeed, it took a long time to develop the Infuuts, because the risks of cycling with an IV pole had to be minimized.’
From idea to reality
In 2020, Wine Group physician-researcher Bernadette Jeremiasse got a great idea: How nice would it be if children could just ride their bikes at Máxima while they have IV pumps!? She immediately got supporters from the Maximum Movement team. Patrick van der Torre, physio manager, turned out to be one of the driving forces because a bicycle is an important vehicle for exercise for many children between the ages of three and six. Together with Jesse Bosma and Jeroen van den Berg of the Department of Medical Technology & Kinetic Physics of the UMC Utrecht, a prototype was made and extensively tested. The Infuuts is now in the ‘children’s bicycle garage’ of the Máxima and can be borrowed on the wards.
The Infuuts was made possible in part by Children’s Fund Van Dusseldorp, through the Princess Máxima Center Foundation.
Source: care.princesmaximacentrum.nl/en/actual/news/infuuts-cycling-with-your-infusion-pole